Carbon Sequestration

Subsurface storage of captured anthropogenic CO2, provides a promising technology to decrease the rate of increase of CO2 in the atmosphere. Projects address fundamental aspects of understanding the fate of CO2 injected into heterogeneous brine and depleted oil reservoirs, the physical, chemical, and microbial interactions among CO2-ladden brines, minerals, and hydrocarbons, and implementation strategies of CO2 storage in the subsurface. This research motivates investigations of the risks associated with sequestration and the development of cost effective strategies for monitoring for leakage.

Faculty & Research Scientists

Todd CaldwellDr. Caldwell is a hydrologist and geoscientist specializing in field investigations and numerical modeling associated with near-surface vadose zone hydrology, landscape evolution, and soil moisture/ET. His current research focuses on ecohydrology, soil moisture modeling and monitoring, restoration and characterization of disturbed lands, the characterization and scaling of soils and hydraulic parameters, near-surface geophysics, and parameter optimization and numerical methods.

Ian J DuncanExpertise in geomechanic and geochemistry applied to: risks associated with CO2 sequestration; hydraulic fracturing for shale gas production; environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing; and the water-energy nexus. Current research focuses on the scientific, environmental and public policy aspects of unconventional natural gas production, the water-energy nexus, and carbon capture and storage. He has a particular interest in risk analysis, decision making, and legal/regulatory issues related to fracing, CO2 sequestration, CO2-EOR, and energy production.

Peter EichhublFault and fracture mechanics, diagenesis and low-temp. geochemistry, fluid flow and transfer processes in sedimentary basins, deformation mechanisms of the upper crust, structural control of mass and heat transfer in sedimentary basins, effects of chemical mass transfer on the mechanical and hydraulic behavior of fractures and faults, chemical interaction between fluids and minerals

Susan D HovorkaGeologic carbon sequestration in deep sedimentary environments as part of carbon capture and storage. PI of the Gulf Coast Caron Center (www.gulfcoastcarbon.org) focused on research relevant to commercial development of geologic sequestration in regions where it is both needed and possible. Monitoring field projects.
Petrography and sedimentology supporting hydrogeology in karst and contaminated systems.
K-12 and public outreach and education.

Bridget R ScanlonEvaluation of the impact of climate variability and land use change on groundwater recharge, application of numerical models for simulating variably saturated flow and transport, controls on nitrate contamination in aquifers

Nicola TisatoAre rocks elastic? Not really... especially when saturated with multi-phase fluids. Did you know that a seismic wave is able of mobilizing the liquid saturating rocks and that such a process reduces the seismic wave strength? Yes, this phenomenon, called Wave-Induced-Fluid-Flow could be used to improve subsurface imaging. How? The absorption of elastic energy varies with frequency, this means that certain frequencies are attenuated and other maybe not. Why is this important? Well, adding information ...

Zong-Liang YangDr. Yang's primary research interest is to understand the exchanges of momentum, radiation, heat, water, carbon dioxide, and other materials between the atmosphere and the Earth surface spanning from small (short) to very large (long) scales. This includes analysis of in-situ and remotely-sensed data for the Earth's surface, and modeling studies of weather, climate and hydrology at local, regional and global scales.

Michael H YoungEcohydrology of arid and semiarid landscapes; groundwater recharge in both managed agriculture and natural (arid and semi-arid) systems; influence of soil structure and vegetation on water cycling; design and implementation of monitoring systems for above-ground and near-surface below ground environments.

Toti E LarsonDr. Larson is a stable isotope geochemist specializing in novel methods of light isotope measurement that include silicate laser fluorination, compound-specific carbon isotope measurement, and gas chromatography. His current research focuses on developing tracers to probe shallow (vadose zone) and deeper CO2 sequestration and unconventional reservoirs. He integrates experimental flow through column experiments with diffusion-advection modeling to understanding the behavior of tracer compounds in a variety of substrates. He also couples light isotope fractionation with ...